Not Quitting

Don’t Quit (Edgar A. Guest Poem)

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low but the debts are high,

And you want to smile but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit…

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit!

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many failures turn about

When we might have won had we stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow…

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor’s cup;

And he learned too late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out…

And you can never tell how close you are

It may be near when it seems so far.

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.

(Edgar A. Guest)

How profound. I just happened across this poem and I can't be happier that I did. There have been so many times I've felt like quitting. There are many more times that I have quit (in the past). This time has been a bit different in that I'm still trying hard to get back on the track. Trying really hard to not lose focus. Trying even harder not to put back on the weight that I've worked so hard to take off, and harder still to keep those bad eating habits at bay. 

This journey does have a lot of "twists and turns", just like most anything in life that is worth having/doing/accomplishing. One of the things I keep trying to keep in my mind is that as hard as it is to take off every pound, it's a heck of a lot harder to carry around more pounds. I really realized this earlier today when I was carrying my pre-schooler who was napping in from the car. He weighs about 35 pounds. By the time I got to his bedroom (no stairs), my heart was racing and I was out of breath. I took a moment to think about the fact that not that long ago I had 35 + another 10 on me. No wonder I never felt good. It was a huge reminder of the many, many reasons I am on this journey in the first place. 

So, like I said, I happened across the above poems while fooling around on the interweb...then I come across this article from CBS about why you're not achieving your goals. Interesting little read. For me, I would have to say that I don't always "own" my goal and I've always tried to go-it-alone. Big mistakes. 

In the past, my weight-loss efforts were for other people. Not because anyone specifically "asked" me to lose weight, but I thought I would do it to "show them", that sort of thing. Never reached my full term goals. And I was always "afraid" to ask for help. As if I'm weak. Not this go around. I've had the help of my hubs and two trainers. Right now I am more alone than I would like to be. Hopefully I can get hubs on board soon though. And as soon as the funds allow, I will be re-hiring my trainer. Until then, it's "Uncle" Gym and I.